Veteran coach on why many world records were broken this season

ATHLETICS Veteran coach on why many world records were broken this season

Abigael Wafula 06:04 - 03.11.2023

Many world records have been broken in the 2023 season and veteran coach Bernard Ouma has shared the mystery behind the record-breaking spree.

The 2023 track and field season has seen many world records being set unlike in the past years where a season would even end without a world record being broken.

Faith Kipyegon headlines the field of world records, having set three records over the 1500m, 5000m, and the mile. She started off with the 1500m world record that she set during the Diamond League Meeting in Florence, Italy, before obliterating the 5000m world record in Paris, France.

She then went ahead and broke the mile world record in Monaco. However, her 5000m world record time was lowered by Gudaf Tsegay at the Prefontaine Classic, the Diamond League Meeting final.

Mondo Duplantis also lowered his world record distance to 6.23m at the Diamond League Meeting final.

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The marathon world records were also shattered but Tigst Assefa and Kelvin Kiptum in the women’s and men’s races respectively. 

Assefa put up a good fight to win the Berlin Marathon while Kiptum was in a class of his own as he shattered the world record in the streets of Chicago.

According to coach Bernard Ouma, this is not an unusual happening and he stated that the reason behind this is the fact that the Covid-19 pandemic delayed some processes.

He explained that during that period, athletes were still training and building up for the 2024 season, as he explained the scientific factors of their body's adaptations to the changes. 

“We had a huge break of Covid-19 putting a pause on our system of operations and we lost a lot of time but people were still training individually.

"It was a build-up to now and if you haven’t realised, championships are very fast nowadays because of the tactical approach. People are now running against time.

"Personally, I also changed the approach in the 1500m meaning that if we are fit, we will run fast times,” he said.

He added that the wavelights have also been of great importance to athletes in their quest to run fast times. He explained that the technology has helped athletes avoid stress when running.